spack·le    [spak-uhl]  Sh (initial capital letter) Trademark . a brand of quick-drying, plasterlike material used to fill holes, small cracks and other minor surface defects Some of the digital tools available today seem to help us overlook dire problems in order to expedite trivial tasks. The series of Windows Cloud commercials are prime time offenders. The ad with the exasperated mother desperately trying to air brush […]

There are lots of questions remaining about the BC Rail scandal…. the biggest being ‘why did the Liberal government pick up the $6M defence lawyers’ tab for two convicted criminals?’.   This week I had a chance to keep that question–and story-alive, by appearing on broadcaster Stirling Faux on-line business show This Week in Money.  Here’s […]

 The election campaign is less than week old and Stephen Harper seems to be demonstrating that he is even more of a mad hatter than people thought. Despite his superman view of himself – the smartest man in the universe not just in the room – he has looked very shaky and is proving that […]

Apppointed (not elected) Premier Christy Clark promised “change”. And as part of her honeymoon period in the public eye, the media has treaded rather softly in scrutinizing her early days in office. She announced a raise in the minimum wage to be staged over time, but nevertheless welcomed by most British Columbians. Many were embarrassed by this […]

Would Stephen Harper attack Libya simply to justify spending tens of billions of dollars on F-35 fighter jets? Perhaps. But, add on doing it for major Canadian investors, reinforcing his “principled” foreign policy rhetoric and reasserting western control over a region in flux, and you pretty much have the range of reasons why a half […]

What really is a “man’s man,” and why does it sound so homoerotic when it’s supposed to mean the inverse?   I have thought about this over the years as I postulate what might have been if I’d picked up a hammer and not a camera or learned a trade and not an art. The […]

So what do we do now? We’re about to have an election almost no one wants; that likely won’t change the political balance of power; and, despite the rhetoric, probably won’t actually result in substantial policy changes.  And for this non-altering experience taxpayers will shell out $300 million! Sigh… I am not a dedicated partisan. Over my life, I have voted for all […]

This week, we here at Lone Sheep Publishing are proud to announce the launching of our new Green Flyers concept. In cooperation with several forward-thinking and environmentally-conscious local businesses, we’re now offering our readers access to local merchants’ weekly online flyers. How does it work? Glad you asked. When, as a subscriber, you receive your […]

The drama is over and Jack Layton and the NDP clearly did the right thing, very quickly rejecting the Conservatives’ budget and pledging to vote against it “in its current form.” That held out the possibility of voting in favour of an amended budget which Finance Minister Flaherty quickly scotched with a Bush-like – you […]

I usually look forward to March, but I have to say this month has been hideous. I am beginning to think that Mother Nature is playing head games with us and that Groundhog Day should be banned. It’s been over six weeks since those rodents indicated to us that winter would last another six weeks, so their predictions are an ...